In particular, but not exclusively, the invention relates to such a method, computer program product and computer system for a chat based communication system, typically through the Internet. Customer service systems are often based on chat functions. The customer will start an internet based chat with an agent and receive help from this agent through the chat. This enables customer service in near real time in a more flexible way than telephone support. For maximum efficiency each agent is normally set up to handle a certain number of chats concurrently. Since the number of ongoing queries will vary over time there is a desire to determine how many agents will be needed at any given time to provide a target service level.
The target service level may be specified in terms of any suitable measure but will typically be based on the average waiting time before an incoming task is handled by an agent, or the probability of receiving service within a certain time. Instead of the waiting time, the total time from when a task arrives until it is completed may be considered as a more relevant measure for the system owner to measure flow through the queueing system.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,064,589 discloses a method of estimating the number of agents needed to serve a plurality of chat channels. This solution is based on the assumption that the system is saturated, that is, that all agents are always fully occupied.
In a real situation of course the work load in the system may vary with time and there may be periods of time in which the system is not saturated.